K9 Games®

Musical Chairs is a doggy variation of the classic children’s game. Music plays as handlers walk with their dogs off-leash counter-clockwise around a rectangular area. A line of chairs (with alternating chairs facing in opposite direction) runs down the centerline of the rectangle. When the music stops, the handlers instruct their dogs to sit by verbal request and/or hand signal only, (i.e., without touching them), and rush to sit on a vacant chair in the center of the rectangle. Musical chairs is meant to be a non-contact sport; with the exception of two human rear ends making contact when attempting to sit simultaneously on the same seat, physical contact with any dog or other competitors is not allowed.

Pairs of dogs race against each other and the winning dogs go through to the next round. Each dogs is held at the Start Line by a steward who releases the dog as soon as the judge says, “Ready, steady go!” The first dog to sit across the Finish Line wins and goes through to the Second Round. Dogs are disqualified if they leave their racing lane. Winning dogs from the Second Round go through to the Quarter Finals. Eventually, two dogs compete in the Final to determine who is the fastest dog of the competition.

Training Tips

In one of the most exciting and fast-paced games, dogs have just one minute to accumulate as many points as possible by retrieving chewtoys of different point values from an enclosed retrieval area. Light-blue (water) Kongs are valued at 5 points, red Kongs at 3 points and black Kongs 1 point. The handler stands in a two-yard square Handler's Box within a five-yard square penalty box. In order for points to score, the handler must be able to take or pick up the object (with at least one part of their body remaining grounded in the Handler's Box) and place it in a plastic bucket. If the dog brings back a Bonus Kitty (soft toy) the final score is doubled, whereas if the dog’s paw enters or cuts the line of the Penalty Box while he is carrying a Penalty Bone in his jaws, the final score is halved.

Each handler has three attempts to throw an object of their choice (ball, toy, bean bag, Frisbee, etc.) for their dog to catch. All competitors take their first throw, before the Second Round of throwing. In both the Third Round of throwing and in the Final, the competitors throw in reverse order to the current standings, i.e., the competitor with the shortest distance throws first and the competitor with the longest distance in the first two rounds throws last. Prior to each throw, the dog may wait at any point in the arena, or the handler may instruct their dog to stay at a specific location. The owner must remain behind the Throwing Line before throwing the object and until a Fair Catch has been signaled by the judges.

Within the allotted one-minute time period, the dog must take an article from the handler and follow the handler’s directions, so as to drop the article as close as possible to a $100 bill, which is taped on the floor approximately 30 feet away. The article (usually a squeaky and/or soft toy) is supplied by the judge and is the same for each dog in any competition but is different for each competition. While giving directions to the dog, the handler must remain seated at all times. The handler is disqualified if the judge can see daylight between the handler’s butt and the chair. Once the dog has placed the object to the handler’s satisfaction, the handler raises an arm and shouts, “Mark!” and the distance is measured.

Each team consists of one dog and four handlers. Two teams compete at a time and the winning team goes through to the next round. Dogs race in individual lanes and run from person to person, performing a different obedience routine with each handler stationed at each of four stations. The exact nature of the routines to be performed at each station is only made known to competitors on the morning of the competition.

Training Tips
I designed the Joe Pup game in 1989 at the request of the owner of Blue Springs Dog Training Center in Colorado to help prepare nervous handlers for competition by teaching them to think quickly under pressure while performing extremely complicated and varied routines. In the original Joe Pup Relay, each handler (plus dog) raced one-at-a-time against the clock. The handler started at Home Plate and raced around a baseball diamond performing a different, recently-learned, complicated obedience routine at each base. The game was an instant success and so I adapted it for use in SIRIUS® puppy classes.

Two teams of four dogs race against each other and the winning team goes through to the next round. Dogs may be instructed to Sit Stay, or be held by other team members behind the Start Line, while the handlers walk across the arena to stand behind the Finish Line, facing their respective dogs ten yards away. Most teams elect to have holders, because after three false starts, the team is eliminated. Also the dog holders may amp-up the dogs prior to a catapult release.

The Woof Relay is a timed event; each team, comprising five dogs and five handlers, competes one-at-a-time against the clock. Each dog has to woof three times and then shush. The team with the shortest total time for 15 woofs wins.

Training Tips

Each owner performs a unique choreography set to music. The various routines are marked out of 10 by a panel of five celebrity judges for both Technical Merit and Artistic Impression. The only rules are that the handler(s) has only 30 seconds to “set up” props and that the performance should last less than three minutes. The rest is left to the handler’s and dog’s creativity and imagination. Waltzes With Dogs is the signature event of the K9 GAMES.

Training Tips